Sunday the van was playing up again, the check engine light was coming
on again so I Monday I phoned Tim at Kahuna's he said he would look at
it again and treat it as urgent but it seemed easier to arrange for the
van to go in again on Tuesday. Which it did. When I picked it up it was
running fine, better than ever before, and Tim didn't charge me enough
for fixing it, he said I had already paid enough. Well, if you are in
Longview TX and have any problem with your vehicle, Kahuna's is the
place to go. I can't recommend them strongly enough. Honest people.
Just ring 903-643-0778 and ask for Tim. I don't think there is anything
at all wrong with the van now they fixed it all.

The following days are a sort of blur. Sunsets can be kind of nice outside Micki's workshop.

People came and went, I hung around, helping
where I could, catching up on clearing files on the computer, generally
finding it great to be in one place for a while, in a way having a sort
of restful holiday after being on an active holiday. It's been so
restful I haven't even finished tidying and cleaning the van although I
did make the annual on my balloon so the paperwork is in order, should
the weather clear up enough to fly. It's been raining or windy most of
the time here in East Texas. It's still a surprise to me that it rains
in Texas. Just as I write at 9 pm it is 73 degrees F (23 degrees C) in
the workshop, with neither heating nor air conditioning needed.

Little Cat and Lucy, Micki's cat, are beginning to make friends. I think. This is Lucy.

Lucy is older than little cat and doesn't want to
play so much so Little Cat chases Lucy everywhere. Every now and then
she stops and bats him. Doesn't worry Little Cat, he's soon off chasing
again.

But now I've noticed, sometimes Lucy chases Little Cat. I guess it's time he was put in his place.

Last Sunday I went to visit Caddo Lake, somewhat surrealistic with the trees covered in Spanish moss,

also the museum in
Jefferson, and dined, as I had the night before, at a new $3.99 (£2.50)
eat as much as you like pizza spot. Great pizzas. Free soft drinks,
free coffee, free starters. I better get back fast before they put the
prices up.

But it's now Thursday. And what have I done this
week? Not a lot. You'll have to await next year for more exciting
episodes of my travels. I've ordered a new battery for my computer.
English company said best prices on the Internet, £149. I actually
bought for £58. Whatever you do avoid Laptop Solutions Plc. of
Edgebaston who wanted the £149 for the self same battery and who also
told me I was a "thicky" because I could not find the price on their
web site. As a judge said recently in the US when sentencing a spammer
to jail for 7 years, when you’re marketing to the world, there are
enough idiots out there.

I've decided to go visit my son Daniel and family
in Cyprus for Christmas. Well he did invite me! Daniel works with the
British High Commission over there in the visa section. So I am trying
to tie in my return trip to Manchester with an onward flight to Cyprus.
At a price I can afford. There's no problem finding flights at £600
($1000). I want to see them but I'm not going to trade in my balloon
for it.